whooo, been gone for too long. ok here we go...


Happy Un-Birthday to ME - Sunday, September 25 2005

another year older...almost. the 1st birthday in 3 years where i've been back in my home habitat, feels good to be back. dinner (w/ dessert of course) @ Coal Harbour.


ninja turtle snacks & fancy chocolates, woohoo! am i easy to please or what? oh yes, and of course the trademark "man-purses" lol, no pics though.


thanks for coming out people!
(click HERE for dinner pics courtesy of dan the paparazzi man)


the REAL deal - Wednesday, September 28 2005

finally...24. yuck. zat iz dizgusting...oh well. BCIT's annual fundraiser for Cystic Fibrosis was on today: originally started out as Shinerama, but somewhere along the line during the past 2-3 years they decided to stop shining shoes for dontations, and instead created something they called the "Amazing Race" (probably inspired by the TV Show), in which teams of students gather pledges and compete in a bunch of crazy stunts/events. they asked for staff volunteers so i went; got a free t-shirt, 2 hours out of the office, and a free lunch. can you say birthday bonus? at night, just a quiet night chilling @ Buck's w/ K-mart, Wally n JY. 24. that's 4x6, 3x8, 2x12...the first step into the *gasp* MID-twenties!! O_o

afterwards, finally finished my most recent idea on the guitar: "Falling (Into Space)". decided to put up a list so i can keep track. check out "my music factory" in the margin to get a glimpse of the emissions of my mind...maybe one day i'll listen do dirty gook and finally get some of 'em recorded at his buddy's studio. maybe.

September Rain came down today,
but that's ok, it feels like May...

looks like the pain is here to stay,
would you like to feel some other way?

just breathe a little, lift your face,
and feel the soft September Rain...


Freaky Friday - Friday, September 30 2005

work was ok, department bought me a belated birthday cake. that was nice. headed to gook's place at night to listen to the final version of the song we recorded a few weeks ago: Morning Star (i think that's what he calls it). met his friend jo (our singer) she's pretty cool, next time we can all jam when i remember to bring my keys. the song's got 2 versions; i prefer the cleaner sounding one just cuz i don't know all that technical mumbojumbo and you can hear the distinction between all the parts better on that one, but there's a "ballsier" version w/ more fx n stuff that gook likes, but that's cool too i guess.

Lesson of the Day: prepare for the unexpected.

idiot me backed into some rail/short metal pole in this tiny parking lot, little nudge cracked the rear bumper. not cool. if it was a beater car that i called my own then i'd just duct tape it n call it a battle scar, but no. damn the amount that it'll probably cost to fix it could've been another day long session, or half a round-trip ticket to asia, or a new Warlock electric guitar, or...ok yeah. no sense making it worse. i guess the lesson learned is that you have to prepare for unexpected expenses (although of course it's best to avoid them at all costs!) when saving/planning how to use money. this sucks, but it'd suck more if it was the second time.

hey, i'm allowed to be an moron once a year right? at least...=P


Sticky Rice Sensei - Saturday, October 1 2005

slept all day, managed to crawl out of bed long enough to send in an online application for a BCIT job posting: Timetabler. sounds boring, but nyeh, something to do. something to help pay for that damn bumper too...lol, yeah it still hurts. *just a bit*

i was the young jedi chef today as i got pops to show me how to prepare his famous sticky rice for a potluck tonight...mmm...next time i'm gonna take pictures. it'll be fabulous.

let's test my memory for ingredients:
-soak/dice/shred: dried scallops, chinese mushrooms, chinese sausage, dried shrimp, fresh shrimp, green onion stalks, garlic
-soak "pearl" sticky rice

...and that's where bdb's memory capacity runs out. all i know is that the final step is E-A-T. that's good enough.


Thanksgiving @ Tom's - Sunday, October 9 2005

thanksgiving dinner @ Tom(aka Willy Wonka)'s tonight w/: not one, but TWO turkeys, w/ 2 different kinds of stuffing, a juicy roast, bazillion kinds of potatoes, loved those little pieces of bread w/ brie, pear, & balsamic drizzled on top, stuffed mushroom caps, what else was there....too much to list...oooh, n that spoonful of cookie dough ice cream i had. mmm, that finished it off just right. that ali-goose was nasty though. saw a bunch of the old crew for the first time in a while, took the chance to start collecting some pics for the tat gallery. lemme know if you want me to send you a shot (don't wanna post anything that could be used as "evidence") =P.

these will suffice for now though:




running in the rain - Monday, October 10 2005

was planning on biking out to the track n then running some laps, but the rain looked kinda nasty so i decided to keep the bike inside. i still wanted some exercise badly though, especially after last night's massive dinner, and though it was a bit too wet for a ride, it looked ok for a run. so, put on a hat, tucked my mp3 player underneath a track jacket n off i went...

kinda relaxing to run in the rain actually, nice misty gray all around, cool wind on my face as made my away along the route, pretty quiet out along the streets today, a nice haze all around...felt therapeutic.

drove grandparents back to their apartment after thanksgiving dinner @ home tonight, and afterwards i decided to step in to the neighbourhood safeway to pick up some milk. felt nice driving around the old neighbourhood once again kinda...seems like everytime i did it before, it was only during christmas time when i was back home for the holidays...now the setting was a dark, not so cold night, steady showers, medium traffic b/c it's Fall. just so nostalgic, seeing the place that i recognize but kind of don't...the old sushi place where i had my first california roll as a kid...in the spot right next to where my old family doctor used to have his office, but not anymore. the same old london drugs in the same spot but renovated, same coffee shop, new sign w/ a new name and probably new owners. another familiar sushi joint across the street where this girl i knew from back in highschool worked when i last saw her, wonder if she still does?

you can cut off a branch, but the root never dies,
you can put on a mask and try to disguise...

but you know in the end, there's now way to hide,
this is our story, the truth never lies.


In Control - Thursday, October 13 2005

watching a Russel Peters standup-comedy routine while playing w/ sharp objects = ultimate test of physical restraint/mental control. heck, i was only LISTENING for most of the time and i was already dying...just b/c i've seen it before and i can imagine the dude's hilarious facial expressions...oh man, that was tough.

some retarded lady kept phoning the shop asking for directions while i was there, and each time they explained and re-explained directions she kept calling back every 5 minutes from somewhere just past where she should've turned/stopped...one of the new guys finally gets so fed up he tells her he's gonna stand outside on the sidewalk to make sure she doesn't miss it, so the rest of 'em (incl. rick) decide they want to...no, have to see who in the world could be so incredibly dumb. so you got three big mean-looking guys all standing on the sidewalk in front of the store looking out for her car so that there'd be no way in hell she'd miss the place...so she finally arrives...and she's a *bit* tipsy. surprise, surprise...and to top it off, after the new guy does her work for her, she's got no cash on her! tsk tsk...live n learn Joe...so she left her purse as a sign of good faith that she'd come back and pay tomorrow. that's assuming it's actually her purse...O_o

a tale of three taiko...


reunion - Saturday, October 15 2005

met up w/ PT (he's in town for some Alliance Church conference or something) and a few other waterloo alumni (old & new) for dessert/coffee @ Sweet Obsession on the West Side. good to see PT again and hear what new diabolical scheme he's hatching...apparently there's video evidence of a certain talk now that i must find a way to get hold of hahaha =P
______________________________________________________

well, that's it for now. interview tomorrow morning @ 0900. here goes nothin...

Uncle J. - Monday, October 3 2005

went to see Uncle Jason @ Royal Columbian Hospital after dinner tonight. first time i've seen him since his terrible accident earlier this year. it's been almost four months since he's been in hospital.

a quick summary of what happened: he was fixing up stuff around his house and he fell from a +10-foot high ladder, onto a porcelain tile floor. his wife was in another part of the house at the time, and was only aware of the fall because of the loud crashing noise the ladder must've made. there was no cry for help, no time to yell; all she heard was a *thud* and when she got there all she saw was the fallen ladder and her husband in a crumpled heap on the floor...with a growing pool of red slowly spreading out across the floor from his head.

this was on saturday morning, June 18. the day before Father's Day.

a little history:

ever since i was born, uncle Jason, his wife Brenda, and later on their son Jesse, have all been good family friends of ours. always the "goofy tough guy"...i still remember the times my parents would drop me n my sister off to play at his house/farm after church sometimes. he had a son too, a few years younger than us, and he'd take us out on tractor rides around the fields (i remember how he'd let me steer once in a while), we'd rummage through stuff in the "spooky" old barn, i learned that chicken sh*t smells a LOT worse than cow/horse sh*t...lots of good memories.

originally from Cheung Chau (one of the islands surrounding HK, famous for seafood and dragonboating) he was a crazy fisherman too. i remember when my dad would take me along on fishing trips w/ uncle J and other people, and how uncle J always managed to be the noisiest/most obnoxious one...even if we weren't in the same boat! always doing crazy stuff haha, and he liked hunting too. i think i have a shell-casing or two that he let me have (or i swiped...can't remember =P). it was thanks to uncle J and a few other guys that i was able to have my first taste of venison at some dinner when i was a kid too. they must've had a successful hunting trip that day b/c they decided to have a dinner at someone's place that night, n all the parents brought their kids too. mmm...i still remember that deer meat. i think i got a nosebleed that night b/c i ate too much of it though...lol.

i still remember going to him and auntie Brenda's wedding.

our families were neighbours for a little while too before they moved out to Surrey; a carpenter/handyman by trade, uncle J. built his family's own house just down the street and across the block from the house i grew up in. i was too young to be of much help at the time, but when we did go over he'd let me do little odds and ends like hammer in nails, clear up building scraps, break stuff, shooting things with his nail gun...hahaha, just so many good childhood memories...

although i hadn't seen him up until tonight, i was kept aware of his condition and progress through regular emails/my parents and their friends:

the first few days after the initial accident were the scariest. the immediate news at first was just that he'd "had a fall", but then word came from my mom after she went to the hospital that same day to be with auntie Brenda that it wasn't good, and that it was much worse than a "fall" and that the doctors were scrambling to control the bleeding/swelling to keep him alive. i remember praying for him that very day in our house at that moment in the living room.

the following days were a rollercoaster of slightly hopeful news of the situation being "under control" and morbid news of the doctors having done their best. uncle J's immediate family and relatives were starting to fly in from other countries to be by his side.

after drilling multiple holes and trying different methods to control the swelling in his brain the doctors had basically run out of options and the family was told that they were going to slowly take him off life support as the doctors saw that they were no longer making progress, and that any chance of recovery was remote, and even if there was to be a turn of events, the amount of neurological and physical damage was substantial enough to suggest that Jason didn't have much chance of ever being more than comatose.

this is an email i received on the evening of June 20:

<"Hello Everybody,

Please pass this to everybody you know who is available to pray and
pray about this yourselves. Another CT scan was performed today and
it showed that Jason's condition has gotten worse, to the point where
the doctors will no longer help him anymore and they are basically
waiting for him to pass away. Please pray for Jason as hard as you
can and that God will heal Jason.">

at this point the doctors had done all they could, medical science and technology could do nothing more to save him. this story could have ended here, but it doesn't.

what i saw tonight was really nothing short of a miracle. we walked in and saw him lying on his hospital bed in the far right corner of the room with his head turned towards the right facing the corner. as i approched he seemed to be asleep, but when i got closer i could clearly see his eyes directed at us, and they followed as we walked to his bedside. he looked like the entire left side of his skull was missing, it basically looked like a deflated basketball. yet his eyes were intensely alert; always focusing on something, not just "zoned out". you could tell that he knew who we were and why we were there. he could move his left leg up and down, he'd respond to a thumbs up, and he even nodded is head when my mom asked him if he recognized me. he was very much alert, although probably very tired from visitors throughout the day and having gone through another operation just a few days ago. before leaving we all prayed for him, holding onto his left hand as we did. he followed us out with his gaze, and he waved goodbye as we left.

now despite all the positive stuff, we all still have to remember that he's only just come out of the valley and there's still a long, hard road of recovery ahead. on the bright side though, i know he isn't going to have to walk that road alone.

i'm praying for you uncle J.